Laurie L. Levenson is a Professor of Law, William M. Rains Fellow, the David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy, and Director of the Center for Legal Advocacy at Loyola Law School. She teaches evidence, criminal law, criminal procedure, ethics, anti-terrorism, and white collar crime. She served as Loyola’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1996-1999. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Professor Levenson is also the Director of the Loyola Center for Ethical Advocacy. Professor Levenson was the 2003 recipient of Professor of the Year from both Loyola Law School and the Federal Judicial Center.

Prior to joining the Loyola Law School faculty in 1989, Professor Levenson served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles. While a federal prosecutor, Professor Levenson tried a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including violent crimes, narcotics offenses, white collar crimes, and immigration and public corruption cases. She served as Chief of the Training Section and Chief of the Criminal Appellate Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In 1988, she received the Attorney General’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance. Additionally, she received commendations from the FBI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service, and DEA.

Professor Levenson received her J.D. in 1980 from UCLA School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1977. In law school, she was the Chief Article Editor of the Law Review. After graduation, she clerked for the Honorable Judge James Hunter, III, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Professor Levenson has served as a volunteer counsel for the "Webster Commission" and as a Special Master for the Los Angeles Superior Court and United States District Court. She has served as a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Judicial Appointments Committee and Judiciary Committee. Professor Levenson is a native of Los Angeles.

She has written books on California criminal law and is a frequent television commentator on criminal legal issues, first coming to fame as a frequent commentator for CBS in the OJ Simpson trial.[1][2][3] She has written about the ethics of being a television commentator.[4][5]